A video interview with Brownsville City Manager Helen Ramirez during the 2024 Careers and Coffee Expo:
BROWNSVILLE, Texas - Brownsville City Manager Helen Ramirez said the days when her city had to chase after business are a thing of the past. Now, she says, thanks largely to SpaceX, companies are contacting her.
Ramirez spoke about the trail Elon Musk’s company is blazing in Brownsville during an interview at the 2024 Careers & Coffee Expo.
Asked by the Rio Grande Guardian whether, thanks to SpaceX, her phone was ringing off the hook, Ramirez said:
“Yes. We are busy. Before, we probably had to chase deals. We're not really chasing deals. They're coming to us, as it should be. I think I knew this day would come. I really believed in the company.”
Ramirez said that when she first came to Brownsville in 2019 as a deputy city manager, SpaceX had 500 employees.
“SpaceX now is over 3,400 that does not include those that will be relocated from Hawthorne, California as they locate their headquarters from California to Texas,” she said, proudly.
Because of the impact SpaceX and all the development happening at the Port of Brownsville, city commissioners have agreed to take a detailed look at how they want Brownsville to develop.
“Later this year we will embark on a comprehensive planning process to see how we should grow as we connect with the Port of Brownsville, with SpaceX, with the LNGs, with South Potter Island, all that road connectivity and land use connectivity,” Ramirez revealed.
LNG stands for liquefied natural gas. Two LNG companies, Rio Grande LNG and Texas LNG, have plans to build liquefied natural gas export terminals at the Port of Brownsville. In the case of the former, construction is already under way.
Another benefit of SpaceX developing Starbase at Boca Chica, Ramirez said, is that Brownsville’s downtown is flourishing, with new restaurants popping up all the time.
“I invite everybody to really witness, see for yourself what's occurring here. It is history in the making. I invite everybody to come and witness and see what's going on. Innovation. Innovation at its finest. Bring your kids, tell them the story, because we are a living transformation of an emerging economy in the state of Texas and then in the nation.”
The Guardian conducted the interview just days after SpaceX’s successful fifth flight test for Starship, the largest rocket in the world. A crucial stage in its development journey occurred when engineers successfully caught the booster on its way down to Earth.
“The fact that on their first try, the chopsticks or mechazilla caught the booster, that’s innovation, and it's happening here, and that influences our generations to come,” Ramirez said. “Our kids that are in STEM, they see it, they hear it, they’re aware.”
Another plus, Ramirez said, is that 70 percent of SpaceX’s workforce at Boca Chica is local. She said 65 percent of the workers at the liquefied natural gas projects at the Port of Brownsville are local.
“I predict… we’re going to keep more of our talent here, and we're going to bring a lot of the talent back. We're also attracting talent from other parts of Texas and other states. And so that's what I'm seeing, and I think we'll continue to see that.”
In the interview, the Guardian also asked about the significance of a Harvard study that found Brownsville to be one of the most upward mobile cities in the country.
“What they found is that we were the highest-ranking city for our population in upward mobility. That’s economic mobility, that is salaries, that is average wages,” Ramirez said. “The fact that it's reputable national research that was done by some Harvard professors, that is amazing to show that. So, the data is there.”
Ramirez also spoke about rankings from the Federal Reserve Bank and various tech hubs that says Brownsville is the place to be. She said workers are realizing they do not have to leave to get good-paying jobs.
Careers and Coffee is a huge jobs fair co-hosted by the City of Brownsville and the Greater Brownsville Incentives Corporation. This year’s expo, the fourth, was held at the Brownsville Events Center. It attracted over 3,500 job seekers and 50 organizations looking to hire.
“The wonderful thing is that if you exit this building, there's no parking. Pretty much the 50 companies, and it's over 2000 jobs, I would say it's hitting probably more like 3,500 jobs, available here in the city of Brownsville, in the Port of Brownsville, in Cameron County. We’re just so excited,” Ramirez said.
Ramirez said she was grateful that Workforce Solutions Cameron was present, along with all the local school districts and UT-Rio Grande Valley. “I really like the philosophy of One City, everyone coming together to look at opportunities in Brownsville.”
She was also grateful that SpaceX had a booth.
“I would say that this is probably one of the only cities in the world where you can actually have an in-person interview and possibly get hired on the spot by SpaceX.”
In addition to SpaceX, Bechtel was hiring workers for the Rio Grande LNG project at the Port of Brownsville. Brownsville Police Department was also hiring, as well as engineering and manufacturing companies.
